Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘There Were A Lot Of Other Problems’: John Kennedy Says Kristi Noem Ouster Wasn’t Just About ‘Spending Porn’

John Kennedy Says Ouster Of Kristi Noem Wasn't Just About 'Spending Porn' (Screenshot/CNN)

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said Tuesday that the removal of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stemmed from broader problems inside the agency and not solely from the controversy surrounding a costly advertising campaign.

President Donald Trump announced last week that he wants Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, following two congressional oversight hearings where lawmakers pressed Noem over her leadership of the agency. Kennedy addressed the issue on “The Arena With Kasie Hunt.” He said his questioning of Noem during a Senate hearing over the department’s roughly $220 million advertising effort played a role, but he argued the situation went deeper.

“I think it was sort of the straw, the final straw on the camel’s back. Look, I accept responsibility or blame or whatever you want to call it. Nobody put me up to it. Nobody knew I was going to do it. Nobody looked at my questions,” Kennedy told host Kasie Hunt. “I had about eight questions, eight issues I wanted to talk to the secretary about. I got to two of them. I was appalled at some of her answers. So was the president when he called me that night. I could tell he was going to replace her.”

Kennedy said he does not harbor personal resentment toward Noem and credited her with carrying out the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

WATCH: 

“I don’t bear her any ill will. She executed the president’s policy on securing the southern border. But when I see spending porn, a quarter of a billion dollars spent on what in effect are political ads through a no-bid contract to her friends, I’m going to call it out. Every single time, I don’t care who did it,” Kennedy added. “And there are a lot of other problems over there as well. They were distracting from Congress’s agenda, from the president’s agenda, from more important matters. I did what I did, and the president was, as I said, he was pretty worked up.”

Before Trump announced Noem’s replacement, Kennedy pressed her during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about DHS’ costly television advertising campaign. Kennedy expressed concerns over reports that Noem awarded multiple no-bid contracts tied to a $220 million ad campaign to firms with personal connections to her and senior advisers, an allegation Democratic Vermont Sen. Peter Welch brought up.

Kennedy pressed Noem on whether Trump had specifically requested the television ads, with Noem responding that she and Trump discussed the advertising campaign both before and after her Senate confirmation to lead the DHS. Kennedy then asked whether the service contracts for the ads had been competitively bid and whether companies that won the contracts had previously done political work for Noem in South Dakota. Noem said career DHS officials handled a competitive bidding process. She denied any prior political ties to the contractors even after Kennedy said he did not believe her.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNN)